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The Phantom of the Opera: The Original Novel Mass Market Paperback – December 30, 1987
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"The wildest and most fantastic of tales." - New York Times Book Review.
The novel from the early 20th century that inspired the Lon Chaney film and the hit musical. In the 1880s, in Paris, the Palais Garnier Opera House is believed haunted. One night, a young woman, Christine, is asked to sing in place of the Opera's leading soprano, who is ill; Christine's performance is a success, and she is recognized by the Vicomte Raoul, a childhood playmate and love. Raoul and the Phantom then battle for Christine's heart, as the Phantom demands more and more from her.
- Print length368 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- Lexile measure910L
- Dimensions7.14 x 4.38 x 0.85 inches
- PublisherHarper Perennial
- Publication dateDecember 30, 1987
- ISBN-100060809248
- ISBN-13978-0060809249
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None will ever be a true Parisian who has not learned to wear a mask of gaiety over his sorrows and one of sadness, boredom or indifference over his inward joy.386 Kindle readers highlighted thisPopular highlight
He had a heart that could have held the empire of the world; and, in the end, he had to content himself with a cellar.265 Kindle readers highlighted thisPopular highlight
For several months, there had been nothing discussed at the Opera but this ghost in dress-clothes who stalked about the building, from top to bottom, like a shadow, who spoke to nobody, to whom nobody dared speak and who vanished as soon as he was seen, no one knowing how or where.219 Kindle readers highlighted this
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From the Publisher
From the Back Cover
About the Author
Gaston Leroux was a French journalist, short-story writer, and novelist, and is most famous for his acclaimed novel, The Phantom of the Opera. A student of law, Leroux turned to journalism after spending his inheritance on a lavish lifestyle. Over a decade of work as a court reporter and theatre critic for the L’Écho de Paris served as inspiration for his series of successful detective novels featuring Joseph Rouletabille, an amateur sleuth, and Leroux’s contributions to the French detective genre are considered as significant as those of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Edgar Allan Poe. Leroux died in 1927.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
The Phantom of the Opera
By Gaston LeRouxHarper Perennial
Copyright © 1988 Gaston LeRouxAll right reserved.
ISBN: 9780060809249
Chapter One
1.
Is It the Ghost? It was the evening on which MM. Debienne and Poligny, the managers of the Opera, were giving a last gala performance to mark their retirement. Suddenly the dressing-room of La Sorelli, one of the principal dancers, was invaded by half-a-dozen young ladies of the ballet, who had come up from the stage after “dancing” Polyeucte. They rushed in amid great confusion, some giving vent to forced and unnatural laughter, others to cries of terror. Sorelli, who wished to be alone for a moment to “run through” the speech which she was to make to the resigning managers, looked around angrily at the mad and tumultuous crowd. It was little Jammes—the girl with the tip-tilted nose, the forget-me-not eyes, the rose-red cheeks and the lily-white neck and shoulders—who gave the explanation in a trembling voice:
“It’s the ghost!” And she locked the door.
Sorelli’s dressing-room was fitted up with official, commonplace elegance. A pier-glass, a sofa, a dressing-table and a cupboard or two provided the necessary furniture. On the walls hung a few engravings, relics of the mother, who had known the glories of the old Opera in the Rue le Peletier; portraits of Vestris, Gardel, Dupont, Bigottini. But the room seemed a palace to the brats of the corps de ballet, who were lodged in common dressing-rooms where they spent their time singing, quarreling, smacking the dressers and hair-dressers and buying one another glasses of cassis, beer, or even rhum, until the callboy’s bell rang.
Sorelli was very suspicious. She shuddered when she heard little Jammes speak of the ghost, called her a “silly little fool” and then, as she was the first to believe in ghosts in general, and the Opera ghost in particular, at once asked for details:
“Have you seen him?”
“As plainly as I see you now!” said little Jammes, whose legs were giving way beneath her, and she dropped with a moan into a chair.
Thereupon little Giry—the girl with eyes black as sloes, hair black as ink, a swarthy complexion and a poor little skin stretched over poor little bones—little Giry added:
“If that’s the ghost, he’s very ugly!”
“Oh, yes!” cried the chorus of ballet-girls.
And they all began to talk together. The ghost had appeared to them in the shape of a gentleman in dress-clothes, who had suddenly stood before them in the passage, without their knowing where he came from. He seemed to have come straight through the wall.
“Pooh!” said one of them, who had more or less kept her head. “You see the ghost everywhere!”
And it was true. For several months, there had been nothing discussed at the Opera but this ghost in dress-clothes who stalked about the building, from top to bottom, like a shadow, who spoke to nobody, to whom nobody dared speak and who vanished as soon as he was seen, no one knowing how or where. As became a real ghost, he made no noise in walking. People began by laughing and making fun of this specter dressed like a man of fashion or an undertaker; but the ghost legend soon swelled to enormous proportions among the corps de ballet. All the girls pretended to have met this supernatural being more or less often. And those who laughed the loudest were not the most at ease. When he did not show himself, he betrayed his presence or his passing by accident, comic or serious, for which the general superstition held him responsible. Had any one met with a fall, or suffered a practical joke at the hands of one of the other girls, or lost a powderpuff, it was at once the fault of the ghost, of the Opera ghost.
After all, who had seen him? You meet so many men in dress-clothes at the Opera who are not ghosts. But this dress-suit had a peculiarity of its own. It covered a skeleton. At least, so the ballet-girls said. And, of course, it had a death’s head.
Was all this serious? The truth is that the idea of the skeleton came from the description of the ghost given by Joseph Buquet, the chief scene-shifter, who had really seen the ghost. He had run up against the ghost on the little staircase, by the footlights, which leads to “the cellars.” He had seen him for a second—for the ghost had fled—and to any one who cared to listen to him he said:
“He is extraordinarily thin and his dress-coat hangs on a skeleton frame. His eyes are so deep that you can hardly see the fixed pupils. You just see two big black holes, as in a dead man’s skull. His skin, which is stretched across his bones like a drumhead, is not white, but a nasty yellow. His nose is so little worth talking about that you can’t see it side-face; and the absence of that nose is a horrible thing to look at. All the hair he has is three or four long dark locks on his forehead and behind his ears.”
This chief scene-shifter was a serious, sober, steady man, very slow at imagining things. His words were received with interest and amazement; and soon there were other people to say that they too had met a man in dress-clothes with a death’s head on his shoulders. Sensible men who had wind of the story began by saying that Joseph Buquet had been the victim of a joke played by one of his assistants. And then, one after the other, there came a series of incidents so curious and so inexplicable that the very shrewdest people began to feel uneasy.
For instance, a fireman is a brave fellow! He fears nothing, least of all fire! Well, the fireman in question, who had gone to make a round of inspection in the cellars and who, it seems, had ventured a little farther than usual, suddenly reappeared on the stage, pale, scared, trembling, with his eyes starting out of his head, and practically fainted in the arms of the proud mother of little Jammes.* And why? Because he had seen coming toward him, at the level of his head, but without a body attached to it, a head of fire! And, as I said, a fireman is not afraid of fire.
The fireman’s name was Pampin.
The corps de ballet was flung into consternation. At first sight, this fiery head in no way corresponded with Joseph Buquet’s description of the ghost. But the young ladies soon persuaded themselves that the ghost had several heads, which he changed about as he pleased. And, of course, they at once imagined that they were in the greatest danger. Once a fireman did not hesitate to faint, leaders and front-row and back-row girls alike had plenty of excuses for the fright that made them quicken their pace when passing some dark corner or ill-lighted corridor. Sorelli herself, on the day after the adventure of the fireman, placed a horse-shoe on the table in front of the stage-door-keeper’s box, which every one who entered the Opera otherwise than as a spectator must touch before setting foot on the first tread of the staircase. This horse-shoe was not invented by me—any more than any other part of this story, alas!—and may still be seen on the table in the passage outside the stage-door-keeper’s box, when you enter the Opera through the court known as the Cour de l’Administration.
To return to the evening in question.
“It’s the ghost!” little Jammes had cried.
An agonizing silence now reigned in the dressing-room. Nothing was heard but the hard breathing of the girls. At last, Jammes, flinging herself upon the farthest corner of the wall, with every mark of real terror on her face, whispered:
“Listen!”
*I have the anecdote, which is quite authentic, from M. Pedro Gailhard himself, the late manager of the Opera.
Everybody seemed to hear a rustling outside the door. There was no sound of footsteps. It was like light silk sliding over the panel. Then it stopped.
Sorelli tried to show more pluck than the others. She went up to the door and, in a quavering voice, asked:
“Who’s there?”
But nobody answered. Then feeling all eyes upon her, watching her last movement, she made an effort to show courage, and said very loudly:
“Is there any one behind the door?”
“Oh, yes, yes! Of course there is!” cried that little dried plum of a Meg Giry, heroically holding Sorelli back by her gauze skirt. “Whatever you do, don’t open the door! Oh, Lord, don’t open the door!”
But Sorelli, armed with a dagger that never left her, turned the key and drew back the door, while the ballet-girls retreated to the inner dressing-room and Meg Giry sighed:
“Mother! Mother!”
Sorelli looked into the passage bravely. It was empty; a gas-flame, in its glass prison, cast a red and suspicious light into the surrounding darkness, without succeeding in dispelling it. And the dancer slammed the door again, with a deep sigh.
“No,” she said, “there is no one there.”
“Still, we saw him!” Jammes declared, returning with timid little steps to her place beside Sorelli. “He must be somewhere prowling about. I shan’t go back to dress. We had better all go down to the foyer together, at once, for the ‘speech,’ and we will come up again together.”
Continues...
Excerpted from The Phantom of the Operaby Gaston LeRoux Copyright © 1988 by Gaston LeRoux. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Product details
- Publisher : Harper Perennial; Revised ed. edition (December 30, 1987)
- Language : English
- Mass Market Paperback : 368 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0060809248
- ISBN-13 : 978-0060809249
- Reading age : 5+ years, from customers
- Lexile measure : 910L
- Item Weight : 8.1 ounces
- Dimensions : 7.14 x 4.38 x 0.85 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #954,962 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #3,145 in Gothic Fiction
- #21,815 in Classic Literature & Fiction
- #43,929 in Literary Fiction (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the authors
Gaston Leroux (1868-1927) was a French writer best known for his novel The Phantom of the Opera. Born in Paris, Leroux initially worked as a critic and court reporter for the newspapers L'Écho de Paris and Le Matin. In 1918 he formed a film company called the Société des Cinéromans. After quitting journalism to focus on writing fiction, Leroux went on to publish dozens of novels. He died at his home in Nice, France.
Leslie S. Klinger is considered to be one of the world's foremost authorities on those icons of the Victorian era, Sherlock Holmes, Dracula, and Frankenstein. He is the editor of the three-volume collection of the short stories and novels, THE NEW ANNOTATED SHERLOCK HOLMES, published by W. W. Norton in 2004 and 2005, winner of the Edgar Award for Best Critical/Biographical Work and nominated for every other major award in the mystery genre. THE NEW ANNOTATED DRACULA, published by W. W. Norton in 2008, offers a similar in-depth examination of Bram Stoker's haunting classic and its historical context. It received a starred review in Publishers' Weekly.
Since the 1960s, the study of the rich fantastic literature of the Victorian writers has been Klinger's consuming passion. He has written dozens of articles on Sherlockiana, published 20 books on Sherlock Holmes in addition to the Norton work, and regularly teaches UCLA Extension courses on "Sherlock Holmes and His World" and "Dracula and His World." Klinger's Sherlock Holmes Reference Library has been called by the Baker Street Journal "the standard text of reference for all serious Sherlockians." He contributed essays to Playboy Magazine and the Times of London on vampires and served as the technical adviser for Warner Bros. on the "Sherlock Holmes" films starring Robert Downey, Jr. and Jude Law.
Klinger has edited several anthologies of stories relating to Holmes, vampires, horror, and Victorian fiction, including "In the Shadow of Dracula" and "In the Shadow of Sherlock Holmes" for IDW Books and "In the Shadow of Edgar Allen Poe" for Pegasus Books. He has also co-edited with Laurie R. King four anthologies of new stories about Sherlock Holmes, "A Study in Sherlock," the Anthony-winning "In the Company of Sherlock Holmes," "Echoes of Sherlock Holmes," and "For the Sake of the Game." The four-volume "The Annotated Sandman" in collaboration with Neil Gaiman for DC Entertainment appeared in 2012-14, and his "Watchmen: Annotated Edition" was published by DC Entertainment in 2017. Also in 2017, his "New Annotated Frankenstein," published by W. W. Norton, was nominated for a World Fantasy Award. Klinger's "The New Annotated H. P. Lovecraft," shortlisted for the Bram Stoker Award, appeared in 2014, and a second volume, "New Annotated H. P. Lovecraft: Beyond the Mythos" will be published by Norton in 2019.
Klinger and co-editor Laura Caldwell just completed "ANATOMY OF INNOCENCE: TESTIMONIES OF THE WRONGFULLY CONVICTED," published by Liveright Publishing/W. W. Norton in 2017. This harrowing anthology pairs exonerees with major mystery/thriller writers to tell their tales of despair, hope, and courage. A nonprofit project, proceeds from the book benefit innocence projects.
In 2018, Klinger published "Classic American Crime Fiction of the 1920s," a massive annotated collection of five novels, including the first Charlie Chan mystery, the first Ellery Queen mystery, the first Philo Vance mystery, Dashiell Hammett's first novel, and "Little Caesar," the first gangster novel. The book was awarded the Edgar for Best Critical/Biographical and is nominated for several other awards.
Later in 2019, Neil Gaiman's "Annotated American Gods," edited with notes by Klinger, will appear from William Morrow.
Born in Chicago, Illinois, Klinger received an AB in English from the University of California, Berkeley, followed by a JD from Boalt Hall (School of Law, U.C. Berkeley). Since then, he has lived in Los Angeles, pursuing a legal career in tax, estate, and business planning. Klinger is a member of the Baker Street Irregulars, the Horror Writers Association, and the Mystery Writers of America. He served for three years as the chapter president of the SoCal Chapter of MWA and on its National Board of Directors, and he is the Treasurer of the Horror Writers Association.
Eric J. Guignard has twice won the Bram Stoker Award (the highest literary award of horror fiction), won the Shirley Jackson Award, and been a finalist for the World Fantasy Award and International Thriller Writers Award for his works of dark and speculative fiction. He has over 100 stories and non-fiction author credits appearing in publications around the world; has edited multiple anthologies (including the current series, The Horror Writers Association’s HAUNTED LIBRARY OF HORROR CLASSICS, through SourceBooks, with co-editor Leslie S. Klinger); and has created an ongoing series of author primers championing modern masters of the dark and macabre, EXPLORING DARK SHORT FICTION through his press, Dark Moon Books. He is also publisher and acquisitions editor for the renowned +HORROR LIBRARY+ anthology series. His latest books are LAST CASE AT A BAGGAGE AUCTION; DOORWAYS TO THE DEADEYE; and short story collection THAT WHICH GROWS WILD: 16 TALES OF DARK FICTION (Cemetery Dance). Visit Eric at: www.ericjguignard.com, his blog: ericjguignard.blogspot.com, or Twitter: @ericjguignard.
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Wendi Zwaduk is a multi-published, award-winning author of more than one-hundred short stories and novels. She’s been writing since 2008 and published since 2009. Her stories range from the contemporary and paranormal to BDSM and LGBTQ themes. No matter what the length, her works are always hot, but with a lot of heart. She enjoys giving her characters a second chance at love, no matter what the form. She’s been the runner up in the Kink Category at Love Romances Café as well as nominated at the LRC for best contemporary, best ménage and best anthology. Her books have made it to the bestseller lists on Amazon.com and other websites. She also writes under the name of Megan Slayer.
When she’s not writing, she spends time with her husband and son as well as three dogs and three cats. She enjoys art, music and racing, but football is her sport of choice. Find out more about Wendi at:
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And honestly, I'm not sure how good this one is. Given that Ribière is French herself, I assumed that her translation would be most faithful, but there were several points in the text where I found glaring errors (most notably in the epilogue, where a translation mishap sent the Samarkand merchant to fetch Erik from the fair, instead of the Daroga). But, as I'm not perfectly fluent in French (and don't have a copy of the French text handy to compare them, anyway), I can't speak adequately on the accuracy of this translation.
I may be in the minority, but I have always vastly preferred Leroux to Lloyd-Webber's musical. The novel's atmosphere can't be matched, in my opinion. Written as detective fiction, Leroux's speaker is investigating (years after the events of the novel) the legend of the "Phantom of the Opera," a mysterious specter that wreaked havoc at the Palais Garnier in years past. During his investigation, he begins to suspect that there are ties between the Phantom, the murder of Count Philippe de Chagny, and the disappearances of his younger brother, Raoul, and an opera singer called Christine Daaé.
Thus, Leroux takes the reader on a journey into the past, often referencing interviews with, and written documents by, several prominent figures at the opera at the time of the "de Chagny affair." Most of the fantastic tale is seen from the perspective of Raoul de Chagny, whose love for his childhood friend, Christine, seems to be thwarted by an unseen rival - a disembodied voice which has convinced the pious Christine that it belongs to the Angel of Music. Raoul and Christine soon find themselves trapped in a nightmare, as the love-sick "Angel" has no intentions of letting his beloved wed another.
The narrative often shifts to the perspective of the opera's directors, who are at their wits' end with the Phantom's outrageous demands. Most of the latter section of the novel is told from the point-of-view of the Persian, a figure from the Phantom's past who is often left out of film and stage adaptations.
In this day and age, most readers already know the plot to the story, so the strength in Leroux's writing lies less in the "mystery" of it all, and more in his beautiful language and imagery. It is all too easy to imagine the graveyard at Perros-Guirec, laden with snow and blood-red roses, littered with skulls, eerily silent under the full moon. The reader can understand Raoul's terror when he comes face-to-face with the "Death's head" in such a setting. Leroux's detailed descriptions of the opera house, too, lend a sense of realism to the story that leaves the reader wondering if the fantastic tale might not be, as Leroux claimed until his death, grounded in fact.
Perhaps my favorite thing about the novel, however, is Leroux's use of music as symbolism. Every piece of music mentioned by name in the novel is symbolic of something in the plot. Gounod's Faust, which underscores the entire story, tells the tale of a man who sells his soul to the devil for the love of a beautiful woman - certainly a parallel to the doomed love the Phantom holds for Christine Daaé. Other musical selections act as foreshadow. For example, "Danse Macabre (Dance of Death)," played at the gala in the second chapter, seems to herald the arrival of the Red Death at the masquerade ball.
All in all, Leroux's novel is, I would say, a masterpiece. With an ingenious story, tied together with beautiful descriptions, often witty dialogue, and sympathetic characters. It is perhaps one of the only "classic" novels I know which contains a morally grey antagonist whose victims pity, rather than despise, him. While "Le fantôme de l'opéra" didn't sell well upon publication and was, in fact, out of print for several years, the popularity of the story speaks to the brilliance of Leroux's vision. I would advise everyone, particularly fans of the musical, to give this novel a try.
_The Phantom of the Opera_ is an incredibly simple story that focuses on a love triangle. At the center we have the singer Christine Daaé, who is loved by the aristocrat Raoul de Chagny and by a mysterious “ghost” commonly known as Erik who haunts the Paris Opera House. Erik’s motivation is a strong desire to be like everyone else. Because of his hideous appearance he must hide, but he figures he has everything he needs in his complex, labyrinthine dwelling in the underground levels of the Opera House, and all he needs is a wife. Can Christine develop feelings for him?
At the most basic level, the novel will remind readers of “Beauty and the Beast,” as it deals with the possibility of love beyond physical appearance. We may, in addition, sympathize with the “villain,” as we understand his purpose even as we disapprove of his method. Under the surface, however, _The Phantom of the Opera_ is a completely different story. Leroux wrote it in three months, and his main narrative device is that of the cliffhanger, which should not come as a surprise when one considers that the novel was originally serialized. He begins by creating a mystery: who is this ghost, and how does he manage to appear and disappear so effectively? The story quickly goes from a mystery to a love story, with the appearance of Christine and Raoul. The next element is that of detective fiction, as crimes are investigated. The end of the story is narrated by a mysterious Persian who provides most of the answers concerning the ghost and his doings. By combining subgenres, Leroux varies the tone and the approach, and keeps us turning the pages.
As I pointed out above, my initial reaction to the novel was quite lukewarm. I was not surprised to read that by the time the classic film (Rupert Julian, 1925) came out, the book was out of print. It had gone out of print yet again when, in the mid-eighties, Andrew Lloyd Webber decided to turn the story into a musical. I read Leroux’s novel primarily because I wanted to watch the original film, and I happen to be one of those people who must read the book first. Though not perfect, the film is a cinematic landmark the success of which inspired _Dracula_ (1931), _Frankenstein_ (1931), and countless other monster movies. The filmmakers changed the ending of the story, but the rest of the main elements are there. I have yet to hear the musical, but now that I’ve read the book I feel like that is the next logical step for me. To appreciate the novel, I reminded myself that Leroux was primarily a writer of entertainment fiction. Don’t look for explicit philosophical depth here. On the other hand, the writing is concise and engaging. _Les Misérables_ (please see my review in the appropriate place) is deep, stirring, and unforgettable, but it requires amounts of time and patience that not all readers have.
To me, the central symbol here is Erik’s mask. So, what is the point of Erik hiding his face? His mask is simply more obvious than those worn by the other characters. Etymologically, the word “person” is of Etruscan origin and means “mask.” Ingmar Bergman plays with this idea in his masterpiece, _Persona_ (1966). (The great Swedish director, incidentally, once expressed the belief that cinema was primarily about the human face.) We think of a person as an individual, as “one,” but what the etymology of the word suggests is that one person wears different masks depending on the situation. Personality, in this sense, would be a multifaceted thing.
We all literally wear masks now, but we wore them before too. Our current masks are frustrating because we cannot see much of the people we interact with, but also comfortable in the sense that they allow us to hide from others. I teach English at a local college, and under the current circumstances my classes meet in person only once a week. Students keep social distance and wear masks. I have never seen my students’ faces unless they have chosen to include a picture of themselves in our online platform. My classes used to be 100% interactive and collaborative; now students sit in the classroom looking straight ahead, and the vast majority of them do not participate. It has become very difficult to “read” them. On the positive side, the situation has forced me to do something I rarely did before, viz. to look people in the eyes when I talk to them. The eyes, they say, are the windows of the soul. Maybe by staring into them we can reveal the mystery. We have become, at least at the social level, “eyes without a face” (another highly recommended film). Where am I going with this? The moment in the 1925 film when Erik takes off his mask comes as a revelation and a shock. I believe the mask itself, any mask, is more terrifying than what is behind it. We are identified primarily by our facial features, and most of those are now hidden. We are now better prepared to understand Erik and see things from his perspective. Speaking of perspective, I cannot help but recall the “Eye of the Beholder” episode of The Twilight Zone, another excellent exploration of the importance of the human face.
Had it not been for the film and the musical, _The Phantom of the Opera_ might well have disappeared from the shelves by now. There are many novels from the same time period that are more memorable and satisfying. This is, nevertheless, a quick, entertaining read that leaves you thinking about ever-relevant concepts such as beauty, individuality, shame, and the need for human connection. Bottom line: give it a try.
Next on my list: _The Joy Luck Club_, by Amy Tan.
Thanks for reading, and enjoy the book!